Unfinished Business
by pictureswithboxes
Summary: Aubrey Posen was four when her mother died


**Disclaimer: I don't own anything**

**A/N: So, as most of you know, in my head canon, Aubrey's mother had passed when she was young, but I never really addressed it... So, to the people who wanted it addressed, here you go, and to the people who didn't really think about it too hard, sorry for the sadness. Also, the title comes from the song ****_Unfinished Business _****by The White Lies (But I like the Mumford and Sons cover better)**

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Aubrey Posen was four when her mother died. She was in the room, all six of her brothers surrounding the hospital bed, with her father clutching his wife's hand. Aubrey was sitting on her eldest brother, Dave's lap, fidgeting like a four-year old did, enough to make her mother laugh and tell Dave to let her down. Brad hopped down from his seat, too and the two younger children began to run and play in the hospital room. Aubrey wouldn't be able to tell what caught her attention more, the sound of her mother flat-lining when her heart stopped, or her father's pained sobs. She would go on to remember the sobbing more than the death itself.

The funeral came and went quickly, no one really had the heart to tell Aubrey that her mother was in the box that they were lowering into the ground, but somehow, she seemed to know that she would never see her mother again. Her father held her hand throughout the whole ceremony, though later, Aubrey would realize that it was mostly for himself. The little girl clutched her father's leg, watching with a strange fascination as the hole was filled, the box inside it disappearing without a trace.

When she was five, Aubrey's grandmother told her that if she ever felt sad, that she could write a letter to her mother and that she'd make sure that the woman would get it. Aubrey was dubious, even at a young age, she found it highly unlikely, but nonetheless, she wrote her first letter to her mother. It was confused and a little illegible, but really, it didn't matter, her mother was a very good reader, at least that's what Josh had told her.

As years passed, Aubrey's memories of her mother faded. She couldn't remember what she looked like, sounded like, or anything that they had done with her, all she knew was that her mother had died of cancer, she didn't even know what kind, no one told her. Josh and Brad would take to telling her stories about their mom, but to Aubrey they were just stories about a person that she'd never met. Her brow would furrow every time her brothers' eyes filled with tears, she never really understood why they cried. Didn't people always say that she was in a better place? Why would they cry if she was happy?

"Was she pretty?" Aubrey asked when she was seven, sitting beside her twelve-year-old brother. By that time the word 'she' ultimately meant mother in the Posen household.

"Yeah." Josh shrugged, not looking up from his homework. "She was pretty."

"And she was nice, right?"

"Yeah."

"Dad gets mad when I say that I don't remember her..."

"It's not your fault, squirt." Josh turned and patted his little sister's head. "You were tiny... well tinier than you are now."

School was hard, too. Aubrey never really thought about how different that she was without a mother, than when the kids at school go on and on about how much they love, or hate, their moms. If she had a mom, Aubrey promised that she would never complain about her, it wasn't fair that the other kids who had one got to whine about how caring, strict, or embarrassing theirs were. Aubrey found herself jealous of them, why did they get moms, but she didn't? Isn't she good enough for a mom?

"Alright, class." The teacher said, Aubrey didn't even bother learning their names anymore, she would be moving eventually. "Give these papers to your moms and have them sign it, if they don't, you can't go on the field trip."

Everyone got up and grabbed a permission slip but Aubrey. She didn't have a mother to sign it, so why would she waste paper? It didn't make sense. The teacher asked her why she wouldn't get up, only for everyone to laugh when Aubrey said that she can't go because she doesn't have a mom to sign it. That was how the rumour that Aubrey was an experiment created in a lab came to be, but the teacher put a stop to it and told Aubrey just to have her father sign it. Aubrey wasn't thrilled that they had to make an exception to a rule for her, but she nodded and took the slip anyway.

Things got worse in middle school. Apparently, fathers weren't the best at giving advice to girls who were going through puberty, in fact Dave's wife, Emma, was the one to help Aubrey through that time. It was more awkward than The Colonel was, but at least it was a woman who actually knew what a tampon was and how it was used. Aubrey knew that the pros of talking to Emma outweighed the cons, and thankfully, she got through middle school without much of an issue.

Mothers' day was an issue, too. Usually The Colonel made a point to be out of the house when the day passed, so Aubrey would be left alone with her brothers, but when she was sixteen, Aubrey spent her first Mothers' Day alone. It was strange without someone there, telling her stories about the woman who had passed so long ago, but Aubrey entertained herself with homework and an old scrapbook that she had found last time the family moved. It had obviously been made by her mother, since there wasn't an artistic bone in any of the Posens' bodies. The book was filled with pictures of the whole family and Aubrey was sure that she'd never actually seen her father smile like that before.

Aubrey met Chloe on the first day of their Freshman year at Barden. They were matched together by a computer and would be roommates for the year. Chloe talked a lot, and Aubrey listened, most of the time, the redhead talked about her family and how much she missed them. Aubrey wished that she could do the same, but talking about how much she didn't miss her dead mother and how she really didn't mind being away from her father didn't seem like the things that friendships were built on. Chloe seemed to understand Aubrey's hesitation and never forced her to talk or open up, she always seemed to be biding her time.

"What's it like?" Aubrey asked, they were in their Junior year and still shared a dorm.

"What's what like?" Chloe replied from her bed, where she was working on her homework.

"Having a mom..." Aubrey looked back at her laptop, avoiding Chloe's gaze.

"You don't have one?"

"No..."

"Oh."

"So?"

"So what?"

"What's it like?"

"It's pretty great when you think about it." Chloe put her pencil down, seeming to search for the right words. "It's like, having someone who's always there for you, no matter what. And someone to talk to when you're sad, someone who'll understand because she's been there before... I don't know, it's just nice. Don't you have a dad?"

"Yeah, but I don't think it's the same."

"Probably not." Chloe paused. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I mean, I never really asked what happened."

"Cancer."

"Oh... What was she like?"

"I don't know."

"What?"

"I was four, I don't remember my mother."

"I'm sorry."

Aubrey and Chloe started to date four months after that conversation and Chloe took Aubrey to meet her parents. Aubrey was kind and polite to the Beales and didn't bat an eyelash when they asked about her parents. She was so callused to it by then, it didn't bother her anymore. The Beales back track, but Aubrey waved it off, telling them that it was okay and that it happened all the time. But Chloe's family still apologized profusely, making Aubrey uncomfortable.

When Aubrey was twenty-eight, she visited her mother's grave for the first time since she and her family left Virginia. She sat down on the soft grass and just looked at the headstone. It was dirty and Aubrey knew that she wouldn't be able to clean it, so instead she focused on the name, Aubrey had never really known her mother's name, it was strange for her to see that. Aubrey took in a deep breath and looked up at Chloe, who had given her some distance. This trip was all her idea, closure and whatnot. Aubrey didn't need closure, there was nothing to close, but she did it for Chloe, who loved her and would never intentionally waste her time.

"Say something." Chloe whisper yelled.

"I can't it's a plot of dirt, Chloe!" Aubrey snapped, before looking back at the grave. "Hi, mom..."

"Go on!" Chloe motioned for Aubrey to continue.

"I know it's been a while since you've seen me and you're probably wondering who I am, but it's me, Aubrey. I'm sorry that I've never visited you before, but, well, I didn't see the point... You're dead. I-um... I guess I have some news," Aubrey gestured to Chloe. "That pretty lady who forced me here, that's Chloe, and I love her. We're actually getting married... I also used your engagement ring to propose, Dad said it was okay, and also, you don't really have an opinion on the matter, but I like to think that you won't mind. I don't really know what to say, there's just so much that you missed and I just came out to you... I'm a lawyer, I guess that's worth mentioning... I know this is kind of mean to say, but I don't miss you. I never really knew you, so how can I, right? You're related to me, and married Dad, so you have to know what I mean. I just..." Aubrey wiped a few stray tears from her eyes. "It's been hard without you, mom... I have something for you."

Aubrey pulled a folded picture out of her pocket, it was the most recent family photo, complete with Chloe. Everyone was in it, it had taken The Colonel nearly a year to schedule it so everyone could be in attendance, but they all made it happen. Aubrey set the photo beside the headstone, making sure that it would stay put. She then pointed out everyone in the photo, as if she were talking to a stranger about her family.

"We got two extras, that's the issue when there are eight of us, but the package only offered five or ten." Aubrey laughed, not even bothering with her tears anymore. "So, I got an extra one, it's for you, so you can see us all together. It doesn't happen often. So, yeah. I hope you like it, because we all wish you could've been there."

Aubrey stood up and took a step away, before looking at Chole. "Alright Miss Closure, introduce yourself. This is my mother after all."


End file.
